Projects and Products to Make the World a Happier Place. Jennifer Heynen designs sewing patterns, craft kits, quilting fabric, licenses her art to companies for Garden Flags, Bags, Accessories and more all in a Happy and Bright Style.

Jennifer Jangles

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Good morning,Did you see those pants on John Daly yesterday? Wow I couldn't wear them but I love them. I wish I could get a hot pink glaze, I would make those pants in a bead. I love orange and pink together. Red and Pink glazes are really hard to come by, a lot have lead in them. I refuse to use them and they are just difficult colors to make any other way. Therefore, I will just admire John's pants instead.

You may ask why the beads at the top of the post? I wasn't sure if anyone would read my post if there was a picture of a golfer on top of it.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hey Hey, it was skewer cleaning day at my house. If you don't know, when I glaze my beads they are placed on skewers so I can paint all sides of them. Well, I have a lot and every few months I have to clean them. I have been waiting for a warm day to do it outside so I don't clog my drain. Otis was my helper. He's the one and only Jangles employee and he's not much help.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Free Shipping this weekend in the Etsy store! I am super busy getting ready for Bead and Button but I wanted to offer one last discount before the show. Yes. it's still a month away but I have soooo much to do before then. AAAA! Let's not go there right now.

Place your order and then I will credit your Paypal account or send you an adjusted invoice, whichever you would like. Happy Shopping!Jennifer

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Hey Hey, if you have read other art bead blogs this week you'll notice there is a theme.... many artists have decided to post about copyrights and what is and isn't free to take. It's a fine line to walk in the bead and art world and being the always optimistic person that I am I think people just don't know the rules. Heck, I didn't know the rules until I did some research on the topic. Here is one of my favorites so far, It's by Barbe Saint John.

I don't want to repeat what everyone else is saying so I thought I would give you a source to solve some copying issues. When I started out making beads I wanted to have textures and stamps for my work. I am always striving to have something different from any one else so I, of course, didn't want to use stamps from the store. On another note it's also illegal to use someone else's stamps in your work and resell it. Hmm...did you know that? Stamps are made for the crafter who is making gifts and projects for their friends and family. I searched and searched for stamp makers and I even tried to make some of my own. Then I came across this fabulous company called Ready Stamps. They are a non-profit group who employs people with cerebral palsy. You send in a sheet of your original drawings and they send you a sheet of rubber stamps from them. It's super cool and you can read all about it here at the Polymer Clay Express website. You can even download an order form there.

I just sent off a sheet of drawings today and of course being the impatient person I am I want them now! But they are super fast and I will have them in about a week. If you have taken one of my ceramic bead making classes, yes, this is the source. It is in the handout and I always make sure to mention the place because they are great.

So go make your own stamps! Yay! You will have original artwork that no one else will have, remember if they steal your designs they are in trouble.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I thought since today was earth day( what a good holiday :) ) I would highlight a pretty cool company that is doing good things for the earth. It's called My Earth and it was started by one of my friends a few years ago. It's a fabulous company with a great idea behind it. My Earth sells environmentally friendly products through school fundraisers. They give, what I think, is a huge amount back to the schools.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Hey, Hey long time no blog. I am back from Miami. It was a wonderful time and here is a picture from class. This picture was taken on our glazing day. The students were busy painting all of their beads they made the day before. You can tell from the pictures there was lots to do.

The beads are in the kiln as we speak and I will post some photos tomorrow once they are fired.

Thanks to everyone at the South Florida Jewelry Arts Guild for such a great time and successful event. Have a great day, Jennifer

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Good Morning!I know I haven't been around much in the blog world. I leave in a couple of days for Miami, where the South Florida Jewelry Arts Guild has lots planned. I am doing a resin demo and having a trunk show Thursday night at their monthly meeting. Then over the weekend I am teaching a kiln class and a bead making workshop. It was a lot of fun last year and I am thinking it will be the same this year. I am packing up my suitcase now, it contains metal buckets, sawdust, bead trays, paint brushes, and more. I am sure I will be throwing airport safety for a loop.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Hey Hey, the wisteria is in bloom. This is my favorite time of the year here in Georgia. I love the stuff, and I always make sure that when it blooms I head to the Botanical Gardens near my house. They have the prettiest arbor draped in it. Isn't beautiful?

By the way...I know I haven't been blogging a whole bunch...I have been glazing like crazy for he past week. I am happy to report if you placed an order around the Creative Celebration, it is going out today! Wahoo....your beads are on their way.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Hey there, long time no blog. I was wiped out after the fun last Wednesday. We took a fun little trip to Asheville this weekend. I love all the fun shops and good food there. I took some pictures of things...like the big snail at Mellow Mushroom Pizza. A downspout in an alley, and a black and white striped awning. I also got some super coold beads at Chevron Beads. I love the glitter!

I was attempting to make a piece for the Jangles challenge and a different one for the March Art Bead Scene challenge inspired by Matisse's The Goldfish painting. Overnight my beads had a party on the bead boards and started cross-polinating! The result is a riot of color and movement reminiscent of those beautiful red fish in the painting. I prefer to let the beads lead me where they want to go when I am making a piece. I like to play with color, pattern, movement and light when I design, and I believe in upcycling forgotten objects into new found treasures. This necklace contains the leather cord and silver charms from a forgotten necklace. I had a lot of fun making this piece and it has become the inspiration for my gallery exhibit in April. All the pieces will be inspired by Master's works of art.Thanks for letting me play, Jennifer!

I like to use the neck wires from Fire Mountain so I can make a spur of the moment necklace to wear with a certain outfit. I wanted to make something to wear with a black top for a fun luncheon I was going to, so I strung on your beautiful bead with the charming glass beads you included with it, then added some silver spacers, and VOILA - an eye-catching necklace. And, of course, someone wanted to have one JUST LIKE IT!!!!

I just had to share a bracelet I made with one of your cute clasps....I wanted to mix classy silver links with one of your fun creations and came up with this...the pattern in the silver is called Idiot's Delight - I think that is funny!!!! I love to create different pieces and adding your beads into mine makes some fun things.

Lynn YuhrPresident of the South Florida Jewelry Arts Guild and beading fanatic, who has to try every technique or medium at least once and sells this hobby to her husband as the cheapest therapy around!

Take me Dancing - (Black-White-Fringe)

This design was created by stringing a pattern of Jangles beads with a section of size 6 seed beads (4 to 6 beads) in between. Fringe is then created off of the size 6 seed beads and is used as spacing between black and white Jangles tube bead and a few smaller Jangle beads. The fringe is made up of a variety of black and white seed beads, cubes, drops, crystals and pressed glass, whatever was in my stash at the time. the black and white color scheme keeps the bracelet looking dressy while the fringe adds some fun and flash.

This design was created using the ancient braiding technique called "kumihimo". Typically used for weaving fibers into beautiful braids, it has been adapted to weaving with beads. The beads were strung on eight cords and placed on a loom called a marudai. The design is created depending upon the order of the beads and on which cords you string them. I have coordinated a Jangles 'black and bright' large bead and cones with size 8 frosted lime seed beads, cobalt blue drops and a sterling silver toggle clasp. This weaving pattern used 8 cords and looks very similar to bead crochet.

I really love Jennifer's work and I am very happy to show off anecklace I made with a pendant and 2 containers of glass beads that camewith it. I try hard to tell from the picture but I made the bail for thependant by wrapping sliver wire several times into a loop and then twistingit together into a free form design. I made the necklace as a Christmaspresent for my friend Shelley who is a very vibrant & active person - shelikes bright colours and I wanted to make her something that wasdistinctive and would express her personality. Having the beads helped,but I spent a fair amount of time working out an arrangement that worked.I am relatively new to beading (less that 3 years) and have a busy lifethat doesn't leave as much time for beading as I would like - I have tendedto make bracelets (because they are my favourite type of jewelry and easy)and match the beads up. So working with your pendant and the beads gave mea chance to work outside my comfort zone in terms of the piece and thestones - no so much matchy-matchy as harmonizing the overall design.

hand dyed silk ribbon made by Deb Batten of Firebird Flame Works of New Zealand. She has an etsy store, too!

large silver plated jump ring

Jangles beads

Czeck glass beads

Swarovski crystals

History:

Deb Batten makes beautiful silk ribbons. She dyes them herself, and the results are spectacular! To one of Deb's beautiful ribbons, I added the rest of the beads. I didn't add a clasp. Instead, I used slip knots to make the silk ribbon adjustable. I can wear the necklace in different lengths. I now have an outstanding piece of jewelry to wear when I go out. I love it!

I now have a complete, new jewelry wardrobe. The final addition to wardrove is this beautiful set of earrings. I honestly love Jangles beads! I'm taking one of her classes at the Bead and Button Show in June. I can hardly wait to meet Jennifer in person and learn some of her techniques for making ceramic beads.

this necklace is designed to have the daisy off-set just a bit - it gives it a fun focus!

about me.....

I am a stay at home mom with 3 kids - so beading and jewelry design is my therapy!

I have been creating jewelry designs for several years now - it is really a lot of fun for me when things just sort of come into their own on their own..... like when you have a piece that you have no idea what you are going to do with and it just kind of sits there and all of a sudden something random will be there next to it and WOW - there it is!

I just LOVE Jangles beads - especially the FLOWERS!

I am not afraid of color and I love how I can pair Jennifer's pieces with some fun and funky colors and beads to really show off the pieces.

Rather than put away items that were left over and sitting around on my bench, I made a charm bracelet using one of your clasps – rather dramatic don’t you think? Bracelet sold promptly as art show last summer.

Materials list:

Jangles magnetic clasp

Odds/ends on my bench including Mother of Pearl shell, glass, jasper, coral, jump rings, chain.I just kept adding until it had the right amount of dangles and “jangled”!

I love pink! This bracelet is pink! You have to love pink to wear it, and I will wear it often. I used a combination of pink flexible bugle beads, Jangles beads, and my handmade lampwork beads. I love this bracelet, and I know I will wear it frequently.

I bought these Jangles beads last year when I joined the South Florida Jewelry Art Guild (my first meeting), I struggled a little bit on how to best use the ceramic disks because I only had two. It took a while and more experience to figure it out (once I learned wire wrapping). I love the fact that the yellow is still the prevalent color and it does not compete at all with the quartz beads.The funny part is that I already sold the bracelet during an event last weekend!I have a couple of red disks and I will try to do it again. It’s a lucky bracelet.

I bought these Jangles beads last year when I joined the South Florida Jewelry Art Guild (my first meeting), and immediately I went ahead and created the necklace.I wanted to have the “I love beads” letters up front because I really feel that way. I love any kind of beads.The clasp in the back looks really cool with the right shirt!I was sorry I couldn’t take the ceramic beads class, but this year I’m in.

When I saw the blog post about the contest, I thought I would give it a shot…So, I came home and pulled out my Jangles beads to see what came to me…When I saw the ladybug and butterfly, I thought I would do a bracelet with a spring garden kind of feel…So, I pulled out my markers and graph paper and created the pattern for the base of the bracelet – somewhere for the butterfly and ladybug to hang out. When I saw the picture of the peyote base, I really like the look of the “field of flowers” that I came up with…Then, I made a couple of beaded flowers (thanks to my Diane Fitzgerald book…) and created a “close-up” of the butterfly amongst two of the flowers…I really wanted to include the ladybug as well, and, somewhere along the way, got the idea to incorporate it into the toggle for the bracelet. When it’s closed, you get the feel of a pretty bug landing in the field of flowers, regardless of whether or not you look at it from the front or the back.

Book: Sew Small

BOOK: Stitch Kitsch

BOOK: Extraordinary Colors

BOOK: Ceramic Bead Jewelry

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Jennifer Jangles uses affiliate programs from time to time for income. These are links that lead to Amazon, Craftsy, and others. This helps me be able to bring you free projects. I never link to anything that I don't personally use or recommend, you can be sure of that. I take this very seriously. As always, please contact me if you have questions.